According to the Mirror, Arsene Wenger is intent on remaining Arsenal manager beyond this season and is planning a summer rebuild with up to four potential new first-team players in mind.

The report claims that the Arsenal boss has the full backing of the club’s hierarchy despite a disappointing campaign and supporter frustrations, and that a number of summer changes could be in store.

The Gunners, having been knocked out of both the FA Cup and Champions League in recent weeks, have just the Premier League title left to fight for and even that now looks like a lost caused.

Sitting 11 points behind league leaders Leicester City, it has been a season of what ifs for the North London club as fellow challengers Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United have all faulted.

Arsenal have underachieved, and Arsene Wenger knows it despite not publicly criticising his players.

As such, as many as eight senior figures could be out the door this summer including Mathieu Flamini, Per Mertesacker, David Ospina, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs.

The latter two could be of some surprise, yet the English duo haven’t been able to capitalise on a mediocre season by the squad’s standards and work themselves in to the first-team picture on a regular basis.

With plenty of squad space potentially available to utilise this summer, the Mirror report that Wenger has four new first-team arrivals in mind with the midfield and defence a key priority.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out of contract and being lined up, while the other three names mentioned are Everton’s highly-rated defender John Stones, Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos and long-term target Victor Wanyama.

The quartet certainly won’t be cheap, yet it’s a price the club must pay if they harbour any hopes of toppling Manchester City and Chelsea in what is expected to be an improved Premier League next season.

Here is a potential Arsenal XI next season if Wenger lands his reported targets:

Tom Thorogood

I'm a 27 year old language teacher and writer based out in Mexico with a passion for football and swimming. I like to focus on the top European Leagues, especially La Liga, as well as the footballing development in Central and South America. My favourite teams include Derby County, Barcelona and Jagaures de Chiapas.